Vinicius Junior & Raphinha: Brazil's devastating double-act that can share the Neymar burden and lead the Selecao's charge to World Cup glory in 2026

Ronaldinho resigned as a Brazil fan before last year's Copa America.

"That's it folks, I've had enough," the iconic No.10 posted on Instagram. "This is a sad moment for those who love Brazilian soccer.

"It's getting hard to find the spirit to watch the games. This is perhaps one of the worst teams in recent years, it has no respectable leaders, only average players for the majority."

Coming from a living legend, those words devastated Dorival's squad, all of whom had grown up idolising Ronaldinho.

They also failed miserably to prove him wrong during a calamitous Copa campaign.

After winning just one group game, against Paraguay, a Selecao shorn of the services of the injured Neymar were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals after performing abysmally in a scoreless draw with Uruguay.

Vinicius took a significant share of the blame for Brazil's atrocious tournament and he was the first to admit that he had contributed to the national team's embarrassingly early exit.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he'd been forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines as the Selecao suffered a heartbreaking shootout loss to Croatia, having been replaced after 66 ineffective minutes at the Education City Stadium.

He found himself in the same position last summer, only this time he'd sat out the entire game having stupidly got himself suspended for the meeting with Uruguay in Nevada.

"The Copa America is over and it's time to reflect, and know how to deal with defeat," he wrote on social media. "The feeling of frustration kicks in again, and again on the penalties.

"I received two yellow cards [in the group stage] and watched elimination from outside again, but this time it's my fault. I apologise for that."

Vinicius didn't know it at the time but his desperately disappointing Copa America effectively cost him the Ballon d'Or he believed was in the bag after the starring role he'd played in Real Madrid's 2023-24 Champions League triumph, resulting in the most pathetic of hissy-fits.

In fairness, plenty of his compatriots were outraged by the perceived snub (even though Rodri was a most worthy winner of the game's most prestigious individual accolade) but a significant number were also quick to acknowledge that Vinicius had consistently failed to replicate his club form at international level.

There have been mitigating factors, of course.

Playing in the same left-wing position as Neymar certainly didn't help. Even when Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer was deployed more in a central role as a No.10, the pair never clicked, partly due to the elder man's propensity for instinctively drifting out to his favoured flank.

It also has to be said that Ronaldinho had a point about the quality of the current crop of players. This is definitely not a vintage era for the most successful country in World Cup history, with Brazil having made the semi-finals just once in the past 23 years - and even on that occasion, they were utterly humiliated on home soil by Germany.

The Selecao did win the Copa America in 2019 but Vinicius missed out on inclusion in the squad and was a second-half substitute in the painful 2021 final loss to hated rivals Argentina at the Maracana. He's been a regular in the starting line-up since then, though, and usually struggled to impose himself on games in the manner one would expect from one of the world's top talents.

That is a problem in itself, of course. The threat posed by Vinicius, coupled with the lack of genuine world-class quality around him, has emboldened opponents to commit more men to containing him.

"Every time I enter the field for the national team, I have three or four players marking me," the attacker complained after a dismal display in the 0-0 draw with Costa Rica at last year's Copa America.

At the end of the day, though, six goals and five assists is an undeniably poor return from Vinicius' 38 international appearances - especially when one considers that Raphinha has already surpassed both tallies in fewer games. The latter is also displaying the kind of captaincy qualities we've not yet seen from the former.

Age is obviously a factor. Raphinha is four years older than Vinicius and very much a late bloomer. Indeed, it was Vinicius who helped Raphinha settle when he first broke into the Selecao set-up.

The 28-year-old has never had to deal with anything like the same weight of expectancy as his younger colleague, who was tipped for superstardom long before he agreed a move to Madrid at just 16. That's the kind of pressure to which only a select few footballers can relate.

Raphinha has also pointed out that not even he can comprehend the mental strain facing racist abuse on an almost weekly basis in Spain has had on Vinicius, who has simultaneously had to take on La Liga's authorities almost singlehandedly while also trying to do his incredibly demanding day job at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"We don't know what happened in his childhood. We don't know the things he heard when he was little," Raphinha said in response to allegations that separate criticism of Vinicius' on-field conduct (diving, mocking opponents, gamesmanship etc.) was justified. "These things push people to their limit and it bothers him a lot.

"Vinicius is a very smiling boy, he is always making jokes. The only issue that bothers him a lot is this, I understand his anger. But I'm not in his situation, so I can't tell him what I would do [in his place]."

Raphinha added in an interview with RAC1: "We get along very well and I also often talk to him and tell him that it is not necessary to do the things he does on the pitch, but I understand it. Each person is different, he is like that and I think it gives him confidence on the field to do that.

"For example, Gavi on the pitch, in my opinion, is crazy, he's very annoying. But off the field he is an incredible person, loving, caring… Vinicius is the same.

"However, it's hard to convince people that he's like that when they see him in a certain way on the pitch. Only if you live moments with him will you see that I am right."

However, what Raphinha is doing is setting an excellent example for Vinicius to follow from a sporting perspective.

The former Leeds United ace is arguably the best player in the world right now, the clear favourite to win the Ballon d'Or that eluded Vinicius last year, because he is playing with a mix of quality and character that few others can match.

Less than a year ago, Raphinha appeared to be on his way out of Barcelona, after underwhelming since his 2022 arrival from Leeds. Now, because of the way in which he successfully fought to stay in Catalunya, he's one of the most respected figures at the club, and arguably their most influential player - no mean feat in a starting line-up containing the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pedri.

He's also becoming just as important to Brazil - and, by consequence, Vinicius, who produced arguably his most complete performance to date for the Selecao in the 2-1 win over Colombia.

Vinicius won the sixth-minute penalty converted by Raphinha after being released into space by a precise pass from the 28-year-old. It was also Raphinha who picked out Vinicius on the left wing before the former Flamengo starlet cut inside and found the back of the net with a long-range effort that struck Jefferson Lerma on its way in.

There was obviously a huge element of luck about the winner but it understandably meant the world to Vinicius.

"This was a very important goal because we deserved to win," he said with some degree of justification - despite Brazil's patchy performance at the Mane Garrincha. "I deserved this goal too for all the work I've put in. It was a bit of happiness, but also a bit of relief."

The pressure on Vinicius isn't suddenly going to relent, of course. More decisive displays will be demanded of him, starting with Tuesday's trip to Buenos Aires. But his encouraging outing against Colombia could well prove a turning point. It certainly needs to be as far as Brazil are concerned.

They may be second in the South American standings and are unbeaten in their last five qualifiers but their performances have been, for the most part, terribly unconvincing. There remains a distinct lack of cohesion and balance in the team, particularly in attack, where the Selecao are suffering from a serious lack of a prolific No.9, with Endrick understandably not yet ready to lead the line.

It's imperative, then, that 'the new Neymar' finally starts stepping up to the mark for his country - particularly as the old one remains plagued by injury problems. He won't have to do it all on his own, though.

Raphinha, who has excelled as Barca's stand-in captain this season, is in the form of his life and if the Selecao do win the World Cup in 2026, it wouldn't be at all surprising if it were a swing of the ex-Leeds winger's lethal left foot that brought the trophy back to Brazil.

There's no escaping the fact, though, that Vinicius will be the focus of the fans' attention, the poster boy expected to carry the hopes of 200,000 people in the USA in 2026. That is obviously one hell of a burden to bear, but it's a challenge that Vini's more than capable of rising to - provided his good mate Raphinha can keep pushing him in the right direction, of course.